The body structure of a vehicle roof typically includes a roof panel and several roof headers and bows, which are closed-section or channel-shaped structures secured to the vehicle body. Roof headers and bows extend along the length and across the width of the vehicle roof to provide support for the roof panel. The roof panels, headers, and bows are commonly fabricated from stamped sheet metal.
A headliner is attached to the interior side of the roof structure to provide an attractive appearance for the interior of the vehicle. Headliners are also provided for sound absorption, energy absorption, and/or concealment of electrical wiring and HVAC vents.
Headliners have been attached to the roof of vehicles in a variety of manners, including using screw or snap-in fasteners, adhesives, magnets, and hook and loop type fasteners, such as VELCRO. These manners of attachment are substantially hidden from view, which commonly causes difficulties in manufacturing, as the headliner must be vertically suspended by the assembler to align the fasteners. Further, once the fasteners are attached, they provide little to no movement to allow for adjusting the position of the headliner to attach additional fasteners.
Conventional headliners are generally constructed of a single layer or multiple layers of material joined together and mounted onto the roof structure and/or associated framework. Such headliners are often made of materials, such as, particleboard, fiberboard, plastic board, fabric, and a variety of foams.
Various materials and configurations for headliners have been proposed and tested throughout the automotive industry. For example, headliners may be provided with foam blocks and/or head impact countermeasure (HIC) cones. Such designs are often complex due to the attachment of additional components or due to the overall thickness of the multiple layers, and are often expensive to manufacture and install. Furthermore, upon installation of the headliner, the HIC components in many instances must be modified or tuned to provide proper fit, finish, or function. Such modifications require additional time and cost.